


The Path of the Weaver

by MegatronGray



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action/Adventure, Avvar Culture and Customs, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Development, Dragon Age: Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon DLC, Eventual Romance, F/M, Found Family, Minor Character Death, Past Domestic Violence, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:28:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24121348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegatronGray/pseuds/MegatronGray
Summary: An elven woman named Vethari Venuandru struggles to regain memories of her past and her strength as she recovers from a long slumber. Along the way, she makes a couple friends with whom they build their own little misfit family and aid her on her journey to rediscover herself and her past.
Relationships: Fen'Harel | Solas/Original Female Character(s), Solas/Original Female Character
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I am posting here, so please go easy on me.

Lately, all I have known has been chaos. Running for so long I feel as though I will collapse. Fear of being unable to escape from the endless maze of… where am I again? I look around at the craggy expanse around me, gazing again at the floating islands that slowly travel through the sky that never changes from its dull, foggy green. The bubbling pools of what appeared to be tar scattered within ten feet of where I stand. Or rather… float? 

The Fade, that's what this place is called. I am Vethari Venuandru, and I've been trapped here for a long time. I can no longer remember how long. I have to keep reminding myself of all of this because I've forgotten almost everything else. 

Except the not-sky has been changing lately. In places there have been tears and rifts that have been a brighter green that have pulled Vethari towards them, but she has used all of her strength to stay away, for they felt wrong. There have been flashes in the distance she has been chasing ever since they first came into being. There is no recollection of time at this point, but she knows it has not been nearly as long as she was trapped inside of the nightmares, nor as long as she has been running from the various entities that have chased her. Always running, but never any rest. One did not sleep in the Fade, or eat or drink. It was always just existence and it had been terrifying the whole way. She feels as though at some point she had talked to others trapped or living in this desolate expanse, but she could not remember without stopping to struggle for hazy memories. Maybe there had been one after the not-sky began to tear and glow, but everything was murky and it hurt too much to try and remember. There were too many other things to do. Hide, listen, feel, run, repeat. She used to fight, but she no longer felt as if she should. She had been doing this for so long. What if she needed her energy to get out? 

And so she pressed on, hoping that she had finally lost whatever had been following her for what seemed like forever. It was not always the same entity, but they all seemed to have the same purpose. Drag her back to where she had been running from this entire time. Where was that place anyway? She didn't dare look for the telltale sign of the city in the distance, and luckily it was no more than a speck at this point. There was no telling what awaited her there, but she was not going to find out any time soon. Looking forward, Vethari could see the not-sky getting brighter and brighter. She could feel a strong pull on her body and was filled with renewed vigor. 

But it wasn't really a body. She was just a glowing outline of a person. Many of the inhabitants of the Fade, spirits of various virtues as she had learned, looked as she did in varying colors. She had never met one that glowed as brightly as she did. The others she had met were corrupted versions of their virtuous counterparts. Vethari always wondered why they got corrupted, and had asked another spirit about it recently. Vethari hummed in surprise as a memory came back to her easily for once. They had been bright and clearly young; Wisdom, they called themselves. They said that human fear had the power to corrupt those in the Fade. The more mankind feared their dreams and magic, the worse the Fade became. This sounded correct to Vethari, but she had been confused about the term "human", but hadn't asked more as she had to be on her way. The things that chased her were rarely these “demons” that tried to call out to her to leech her energy. They looked bruised and mutated more often than not, but could only gain access to her when she traveled through the gateways trying to cross the oceans of empty space between landmasses in the Fade. The worst part was when she could feel herself fading in the between place and couldn't see another gateway. The gateways always lit up in her presence, even the ones that seemed broken. Those were always the most difficult to get through, and she had only gotten completely lost in one of those once. That was a petrifying experience she did not soon wish to repeat. 

Vethari eagerly continued through the winding paths of this landmass of the Fade, grateful that it was not a maze for once. As she drifted ever closer to her goal, traffic in the area started to pick up. Never before had she seen so many spirits and demons in one place. The spirits seemed to be holding on to anything they could for dear life, trying not to be dragged by the growing pull of the largest rift that Vethari had ever seen. Demons were eagerly jumping through, and sounds of battle could be heard on the other side. Roars and clashes and crackling of magic. Spirits called out to her, warning her to turn back or she would risk corruption, but Vethari somehow knew that this was her last chance. If she didn’t jump now, she would never escape this near wasteland known as the Fade. She could never be safe. There was something on the other side that she needed to get to, even though she didn’t remember what it was anymore. It had to be better than the constant chase she endured. She burst forward, trying her best to avoid the demons from reaching out to her, for she needed every ounce of energy she had left. Spirits and demons alike looked on as this strange spirit of a person burst into veilfire, casting a spell they had never heard of, and leaping through the rift just before it sealed shut for good.

\-----------------------------

Everything was dark. That was the only thing she knew for some time, until the cold began to creep its way into her bones like a friend. That made her realize she had been cold a very long time. Next she struggled to move, but she could feel nothing but a heavy pressure over her whole body and her lungs gently bringing her chest up and down. It felt like hours, but it couldn’t have been more than seconds when she opened her eyes and saw nothing but a stone ceiling above her. Not the stone of the Fade, thank Andruil, but rather the stone of the material world. There was a dull light fading into the cave as she took a deep breath, trying to wiggle her toes and fingers to the best of her ability, but to no avail. It wasn’t until she heard rustling down the cave that the adrenaline kicked in and she sat up to watch two figures run into the chamber. One was carrying a torch, but Vethari could not see their faces. She stood and immediately her legs buckled beneath her and the world began to fade again. Panic settled into her heart once again, afraid she had failed and this was some sick dream the afterlife was giving her before it was all over. She heard their voices as they rushed towards her. Maybe to end her life, or maybe to pick her up.

“She’s finally awake, I can’t believe it.”

She heard, but could not understand what was said, and faded back into the darkness with despair in her veins.


	2. The Valley of Anodyne

It wasn't necessarily that Vethari wished to wake again, but the jostling back and forth, and the voices around her startled her awake. Her eyes opened to bright sunlight peeking through the canopy, only to shut them and try to squint at whomever was carrying her. The voice from before at least sounded the same. 

"Oh, I think she's finally waking up."

"I am surprised, she looks like a skeleton. I half expected her to be dead." 

_"What are you saying?"_ Vethari tried to speak, but it wasn't much more than a croak, which seemed to startle her two new acquaintances. What language were they even speaking? It wasn't Dwarvish or Elvhen. 

"Let's stop and give her some water. I'll commune and you keep her calm. Maybe the gods know what this is about." And then Vethari was being put down leaning against a tree. 

Finally she got a half decent look at the people with her. They weren't elves, and they certainly weren't dwarves, unless dwarves suddenly grew several feet upon coming to the surface. There was a man crouching down before her with a water skin in hand. She watched as he undid the cap, being sure to take in every detail. Deft fingers, calloused, muscular in a lean way, definitely a half decent archer, especially with the well-loved bow strung around his torso. Covered in light leather, enough to protect, but not restrict, but no furs on to combat the cold. No scars or vallaslin or tattoos to speak of, minus the tiny scars on his hand. Makes his own arrows, a good man. She glanced up at his face, grateful he had the sense to block out the sun with his head for her as he slowly trickled water into her mouth. She didn't realize just how insanely parched she was, but her instincts told her she needed to drink slow or risk losing the whole skin as it came back up. As she sipped, she noted he was a young man and absolutely mischievous looking. Something about his eyes, or maybe his mouth? She thought that she could see a crease in his cheek from smirking. Red hair that was in a faux-hawk and the rest of the head shaved bald, a slightly more round face, larger nose, and dark brown eyes that just so happened to be reflecting the smile he was giving her. After a few moments, she had drained half the skin and he pulled away, turning to his companion, speaking more of the language she didn't understand. 

"Anything yet, Frigg?" 

Vethari turned her gaze to the large woman sitting but a few feet from them on her knees with her hands flat on the earth and face towards the sky. Vethari assumed that she was a warrior from her build, but couldn't see a weapon on her person. The woman's lips were moving quickly, but nothing was being said. Vethari assumed the warrior was praying, but to what god she had no clue. So, she took the time to examine her, blinking rapidly when the archer chose to move and sit beside her, allowing the sun to shine in her eyes. When Vethari could finally focus, she saw more leather armor and furs on the woman, but they were heavier. Further cementing the idea that she was a warrior. Her face was covered in black and white warpaint. The white seemed to be the base, while the black was caked in a line across both of her eyes from above where her eyebrows must be down to just below her cheekbones. There were also three smaller black lines going from her bottom lip down her chin and further down the neck with no true evenness where they ended. Her eyes were closed, so Vethari had no indication of their color or insights to her personality. And she couldn't properly examine the woman's hands from this distance either. Her hair, however, was a light brown and currently hanging in a braid to the right of her face. At that moment, the woman's eyes flew open and if Vethari had the energy or the muscle to move she would have jolted back. The warrior rose, Fade green eyes glowing, staring right at Vethari. She was channeling something from the Fade, surely. 

The warrior knelt before her, and the archer beside Vethari seemed intrigued, but not appalled. 

_"Vethari Venuandru, you awaken despite the odds."_

The elvhen words poured out of the warrior's mouth, which added further to her confusion, but she cleared her throat to reply: _"How do you know my name, spirit? Who are these people?"_ She did not like how raspy and weak her voice sounded, but was still shocked to hear it. She hadn’t even remembered how she sounded.

_“I owed you a debt from a life you clearly do not remember, as did the spirit that led the boy to protect you as well. I do not have much time, as these two were not trained to be mages. They are humans, from an Avvar tribe, and you will need to learn their language. The language of the Elvhen is no longer… in use, to say simply. I will impart some small knowledge to Frigg and hopefully my compatriot will do the same for the boy, Aesir, so they can at least understand a few basic words of elvhen to assist you. You can trust them. You have a long road to recovery, friend.”_

Before Vethari could say anything else, the woman, Frigg, staggered as her eyes stopped glowing and returned to a more natural green. The man, Aesir, shook his head. It seemed the “compatriot spirit” had given him some indication of the language she spoke. The term “human” seemed familiar, but at the present moment Vethari could not remember where she had heard it. Frigg sat before Vethari and grabbed her own water skin from her side. She tilted it back for a long drink before sighing and turning to Aesir.

“So, what did the gods say this time, Aesir?” Frigg was not really ignoring Vethari, but maybe understanding that she wouldn’t understand the common tongue.

“I couldn’t understand any of it, but it seemed like they were speaking the same language as our charge here. Which makes sense, considering the stories father told us growing up.” Aesir seemed slightly confused as more words Vethari couldn’t decipher came out. This was quickly getting frustrating.

“Which ones, there are many stories your father speaks of.” Frigg raised an eyebrow, her mouth staying firmly in a line. When her lips stopped moving, Vethari turned to look at Aesir in the hopes that maybe she could read their lips to gain some semblance of meaning. She didn’t catch the intrigued look that crossed Frigg’s face.

“Our families have been called for generations by the gods to journey out here to carry out a lifelong task and never to return to our holds. They were called when they were old enough to fight fiercely as the bear, track as silently as the wolf, and survive on their own outside of the hold. Some of them tried to take parties, but they were either found dead by their holds or returned, unable to find the path, and another family member would be called. Some were hermits before the call, and wondered why they were not called until they went to trade with others and had a child. Those children, even if not born into a hold, would feel a pull to the Frostbacks and to our people, and join us. Even back before the Avvar came to live in these mountains, our ancestors were called to protect this place by the gods. This place, protected by the Lady of the Skies herself. You and I have both seen the large birds that circle this valley, that you and I both refuse to kill. Father said that his grandmother was the last one of us to make the pilgrimage, and I still wish we had the time to find where she died, but at least she returned to the Lady. There is no place more fitting to die, I only wish she was able to have the rites performed on her. Yet, it is said that when those who are called die completing their duty, their spirit joins the gods that call us here and aid us in our journey, telling our feet where to tread and guide our weapons where to fall. Father also said that a new generation is always called before the death of the last and they arrive at their destination just as the old guardians die. I just never expected the task to be guarding over an elven woman in a deep slumber.” Aesir then turned to look at Vethari and give her a small smile. “Let alone for her to actually awaken. She must be ancient.”

Frigg opened her mouth to reply, but Vethari excitedly croaked out, “Elven.” Vethari repeated, pointing to herself. The word sounded so close to “elvhen” that she couldn’t help herself. _“Elvhen.”_ She repeated in her tongue.

“Wait, do you know Common?” Aesir piped up immediately and popped up crouching on his tiptoes, looking at Frigg excitedly, “How would she know that?”

Frigg examined her charge’s face, reading the clear confusion at Aesir’s sudden change of mood. “I don’t think she does, but I do think that is why the gods possessed me. They said they gave me some knowledge, that they needed us to teach her Common. I did understand ‘Elvhen’ though.”

Vethari nodded enthusiastically and pointed to herself again, becoming dizzy with the effort. Aesir agreed with Frigg, that he temporarily felt the gods tell him the word “teach” and that he felt he knew something he wouldn’t have. In the meantime, Vethari struggled to sound out the word “Avvar”, but after a few moments, and an issue with the hard consonants, pointed at the two of them weakly.

_“Avvar? Help?”_

Frigg and Aesir looked at each other and both nodded, seeming to understand the word “help” and repeating it in common. Vethari felt a bit barbaric, but at least they were making some semblance of progress. If she had to learn their language one word at a time, she would. Those spirits had claimed to have owed her a debt, and the one had called her a friend. She at least owed it to them to try and trust these strangers. It was then her stomach rumbled loud enough that Aesir was startled. Frigg laughed and took that as a moment to teach her the word hungry. Aesir went off to go and hunt them dinner and Frigg walked beside Vethari to pick up her greataxe, which Vethari wanted to take a closer look at, but she felt so weak that her eyes began to droop shut with all of the effort of trying to converse.

______________________________________

Vethari awoke when she smelled smoked meat cooking, and then heard fire crackling. When she opened her eyes, the world was dark and sideways, and she was covered in furs. She could see Frigg and Aesir sitting by the fire, talking, but their clothes hadn’t changed. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she realized that Aesir had lent her his furs for the time being. She tried to push herself up into a sitting up position, but she couldn’t even lift her head and ended up just displacing the furs. This drew her companion’s attention and Frigg walked over while Aesir appeared to be preparing the food to eat. Frigg waved and said hello while gently picking Vethari up and setting her against a tree again. It seemed as though they had traveled further, but she wasn’t entirely sure. She tried saying hello back, starting with the word in elven, but couldn’t find the energy to keep struggling with it.

“Do you think she will make it back to the keep, Frigg?” Aesir walked up with a plate in hand, chunks of deer cut into small pieces and cooked to be easy to chew.

“We might need to start making broths, she can’t even lift her head on her own. Luckily she still has some form of balance to remain sitting up.” Frigg looked at the fire, not sure if they could even succeed in taking her back safely. Stone-hold Keep was weeks away at a fast pace. At this pace, it could take months. They were lucky that they were still in the protected pocket of this valley so high in the uncharted parts of the Frostback Mountains. Soon there would be no trees to rest under or wood to keep their charge warm, but she needed to go to the augur. They couldn’t do this alone, neither of them were particularly skilled healers. 

Aesir didn’t like her non-answer, and instead knelt down to try feeding Vethari. She tried to reach for the plate, but her hands merely trembled. She had overexerted herself earlier. Aesir wasn’t even sure if they could make it back to the old ruins at this rate. He watched as his charge struggled to chew the tiny piece of deer, but was glad when she swallowed her morsel and grunted for another piece. 

Vethari felt humiliated, but now was not the time for pride. She had seen how thin her arms were when Frigg had moved her and knew that her body should not have made it for however long she wasn’t in it, but she was grateful she at least had a chance. She still felt cold and her jaw hurt so much while chewing the deer, but it really was delicious. Even if she had no idea why she was alive right now, she wasn’t going to throw her only chance of finding out away. She didn’t even know what her own face looked like. Aesir fed her until she could chew no longer without tears streaming down her face from the effort. He turned and said something to Frigg about stew while getting out his water skin again and giving her some fresh water.

 _“Yes, stew would be preferable next time._ Stew.” She repeated the word in common with some difficulty, hoping that would affirm to them that she needed more liquids than solids. 

Frigg nodded, “Stew it is. We just need to reach the old camp in the ruins. Luckily, there is a storage of dried meats and a small wild farm there. The river is closest there as well.”

Vethari couldn’t understand much outside of “stew”, but appreciated that Frigg was talking directly to her. Hopefully the more she heard the words, the more she would understand them. It would be amusing, she thought, if I also taught them my language. She realized that she wasn’t really in the position to do much of anything but sleep and eat. Or use the facilities. Oh Andruil, how was she supposed to communicate that? Vethari grunted to get Frigg’s attention and wanted to motion her head to beckon her over, but had to settle with nearly rolling her eyes.

Here goes nothing, _“I need to pee, and I really hope that you can at least understand this.”_

Frigg seemed confused, but said nothing giving Vethari the chance to communicate. Why couldn’t the spirit have gotten these words through? Vethari tried again, moving her arm slightly to pat her thigh, when she had been aiming for her stomach. She was so damn frail.

“What is she saying, Frigg?” Aesir looked over from where he had moved to stoke the fire.

“She’s patting her lap, but I don’t understand what she’s- oh,” Frigg suddenly shook her head and delicately scooped up her charge, “lady business.”

Vethari was doubting that she had been understood until Frigg helped her stand a good ways away from the camp and got in position to assist. Vethari didn’t have the sense to be humiliated anymore, realizing that Frigg would probably also have to bathe her for the foreseeable future. Finishing her business quickly, Frigg helped her clean up and carried her back to camp, setting her down where she had been sleeping before.

“Sleep.”

_“Sleep.”_ Vethari mumbled, “Sleep.” 

\--------------------------------------- 

The sun rose over the mostly undiscovered Valley of Anodyne, waking the abnormally large creatures of the daylight and beckoning those of the night back to their places of rest. This made travel much easier for the triad slowly traversing the lush landscape. The valley itself was not overly large, as it only took eleven days to cross it at its lengthiest point, however that was at a normal pace. At the current pace of the party, it would mostly likely take a little over two weeks to exit the valley. That was not the current goal of the Avvar duo. Even though they acknowledged a healer was needed, they wouldn’t need one if their charge died from overexertion. 

They were to head to the old ruins near the center of the valley. Aesir would debate with Frigg that if it were not for the unnaturally tall trees, one could have seen the top of the temple in the ruins. Frigg would say that it was so crumbled, that they probably still would not be able to. The two had passed through these woods numerous times while hunting or trying to map out the valley, as they had plenty of free time. The trees were more massive than any they had seen before, and Aesir swore that it was the earth trying to reach the Lady of the Skies. Frigg mused that perhaps since this place was so far removed from the rest of the world and so close to the Lady that it was how the whole world was meant to be. That maybe Korth had intended this valley as a gift to the Lady. Aesir liked that theory the most, especially since it sounded like the best story to tell upon returning home. 

Along with the massive trees, the animals and other plants had scaled with their environment. Herbs like elfroot grew as tall as Aesir and the deer that roamed the valley stood above Frigg’s head. The birds would easily scoop the gigantic beasts off to their nests and were a real threat, as well as the bears that dwelled in the many caves, larger than the hold beast back home. The only normal sized thing here was the waterfall to the northwest that wound its river throughout the whole valley like a hand, keeping the ground fertile. However, this allowed for the whole valley to grow almost undeterred and made it difficult to traverse. Unless one could find the old paths left behind by whomever had lived in the ruins, but that had taken longer than it had taken them to find the cave their ward had been hidden in to the far west. Frigg had actually found it by accident while on the run from one of the massive spiders. She claims that since the land of dreams was so close by, the gods had guided her to it. Maybe it was a little bit of both, but she was relieved when they found their purpose.

These were the things that the young Avvars discussed while the elven woman slept and slowly crept her way back to some semblance of strength. It gave them something to think of other than the fear that they might waste generations of effort to protect this woman. Over the next few days of travel, Vethari slept the majority of their trips. It was easiest to sleep when they stopped because then it was just sleep. Whenever she managed to sleep in Frigg’s arms, she had strange dreams of large buildings and temples built into forests that looked as large as this one. They instilled feelings of awe, but also fear. She couldn’t communicate these things to her protectors, so she struggled to piece them together herself to no avail. Vethari worried how much she was slowing their progress through the forest and if they noticed her fitful sleep when they traveled. 

Frigg and Aesir agreed that they would travel a few hours at a time before waking their charge back up to make sure she would eat, drink, relieve herself, and then maybe try a few words out. They got through “hello”, “help”, “hunger”, “thirst”, and “relieve” just so she could communicate her needs. She still struggled with pronouncing the words, and her voice was weak, but she was learning quickly, all things considered. Aesir did notice that the elf was not sleeping properly and proposed that they stop for longer periods of time. Frigg did not like the idea, but when Aesir pulled out their makeshift map, she realized a couple extra days to get to the ruins would not hurt. It was the trip across the river to the south of them that she did not look forward to. Aesir was trying to lead them to the slowest, most shallow part of the river, but that risked going through the various herds that grazed and hunted nearby. They would need both of their fighting ability to make it through. However, if they went through any other part of the river, they risked their ward getting washed away by the currents depending on if the rise of the river from the thaw had finally worn off. Aesir swore to the Lady that the river would be lower, especially as temperatures were rising closer and closer to summer. 

“When we get closer to the river here,” Aesir pointed at an X on the map, “you and our elven friend can stay in our old camp while I scout ahead a day to the river. If it has lowered enough that I think we can get across, I’ll come back and get you. If it hasn’t or I do not return after a day, continue to the lowest point here,” he pointed out an extra day’s journey east, “and cross after dawn when the first halla comes out.”

“I hate this plan Aesir. You better be right about this.” Frigg grumbled, peering over at their sleeping companion.

“Lady willing, I will be. But that’s something to worry about in two days. How is she? I can’t tell if she is gaining weight or not.” Aesir began to fold up the map and tuck it away. Writing was not a strong suit of the Avvar, but drawing was certainly on the table. 

“She is gaining weight, but not as fast as I would hope. I am no longer worried her bones will snap if I move too quickly. She is learning Common quickly, which is good. I hope she will be speaking it well by the time we get home.”

Aesir chuckled then, “Never a sentence I would think we could say. Going home.”

“Me either, but we can think about it more when we are closer to it. For now I’m going to sleep, keep watch.” Aesir grunted in response as Frigg curled up near the fire, keeping her greataxe within reach.


	3. The Trek Back to Shelter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out! Had to rewrite some parts until I was happy with it.
> 
> 13th July update: Wasn't 100% happy with it, so I came back and added some detail! A couple stressors got taken care of in my personal life, so I'm hoping my creative spark comes back more regularly!

Vethari could not tell how many days they had been traveling since most of the time she was still asleep, and she couldn’t ask either. Not yet, but hopefully soon. She was still weak, but with how often Aesir fed her small chunks of cooked meat, she could feel some of her strength returning. She could at least lift her own head without much issue. Currently she sat against another gigantic tree and watched as Aesir slinked off into the woods. Frigg had paced back and forth for a moment before coming to sit by her and sharpen her greataxe. It was currently dusk, and she didn’t feel as tired as she normally did. Vethari tried to sound out Frigg’s name a few times, but the Avvar didn’t look up. It was pretty common now for Vethari to practice copying words that her companions were saying when they did camp down for the night, but usually not for long. Finally, Vethari felt comfortable enough to try.

“Frigg?” It sounded a bit too soft on the consonants, to Vethari’s ears, but it did the job.

“Hm? That was pretty good.” Frigg gave a thumbs up and scanned the area for any danger.

“Vethari is my name.” She had listened to Aesir and Frigg talk about wishing they knew her name so they had something to call her other than elf, so she had been practicing. She also had a feeling they were all getting a lot of help from the spirits, because the Fade felt so close here.

“Oh!” Frigg blinked rapidly and turned towards her companion, “Vethari, that’s a pretty name. How are you feeling right now?”

Vethari could see the genuine concern on Frigg’s face. Usually when she tried this hard to translate everything in her head and speak she would tire quickly. However, tonight she almost felt good. “Okay. Where’s Aesir?”

Frigg did another scan of the woods around them as everything continued to grow dark. She didn’t dare light a fire and give all the predators nearby a path straight to them. They hadn't been able to make it to their old camp with how often they had to stop for Vethari to get proper rest. It had taken a week just to get here, as they would stop for a couple hours at a time before pushing forward. She slept too poorly when they walked for her to truly recover. On the days where Vethari slept soundly and spoke Common the best, they could travel much further. Aesir believed those were the days the gods helped them the most. “He went ahead to scout. A river is coming up.”

A river? Must be difficult to cross if they have to scout ahead for it. It would be nice to see a river again, even though she couldn't recall the last river she had seen. However, hearing of this river brought her the same peace the surrounding wood did, but also the same fear. At that moment, the wind decided to pick up and sent Vethari shivering again. When they had found her, she had been wearing a loose green tunic with light brown breeches and footwraps. That had been all, so Aesir had made her a coat with the deer they had killed days ago. He purposely avoided the halla, remembering the stories the elven traders would tell about them when they came through the hold when he was young. It was a rough coat, but it allowed them all to relatively stay warm until the wind came through and ran through Vethari’s frail frame. Vethari had teared up at the gift. Aesir had been afraid that she thought it was ugly, but was reassured when his charge grunted in excitement as it was put on her and held it close in her sleep. Frigg scooted closer and scooped Vethari into her lap, wrapping her arms around her to keep her warm. This was a frequent occurrence for whomever was on watch in the evening, but usually she was asleep when they lent their warmth to her. Vethari had an inkling that once upon a time she would have shied away from any contact with another person, but trying to recall why gave her a headache. Remembering the feelings that came and went with the breeze always gave her headaches and made her more prone to going back to sleep. At least she was warm and safe for the most part, so she decided not to push further into the recesses of her mind. Frigg was more than happy to hold Vethari close for warmth, as she could always see the wave of anxiety leave her body for a time. Plus, piling up for warmth in sleep was something she had always enjoyed when going over to Aesir's home when they were younger. She had no siblings of her own, but he had a couple that enjoyed their company before the calling took them both to this Valley. It wasn't the same when she and Aesir both were able to sleep at the same time. Frigg looked between the trees and let out a small sigh before looking down at Vethari, who seemed to be zoned out, but still awake. 

Vethari remembered the last time she woke up she was being almost tossed into a bush. Luckily there had been no thorns and it was large enough that it felt like she was tossed into a slightly pokey chair. There had been hissing and the constant twang of a bowstring loosing arrows, which felt comforting to her. It made her fingers twitch in anticipation and her weak muscles in her back and arms tense. She had heard Frigg’s war cry as what sounded like spiders were sliced in half. She only had gotten a peek at the carnage as they hurried away, but it looked like half a dozen spiders had attacked them. She wasn’t able to stay awake long after the attack either. Despite the smell of ichor that permeated her nose the rest of the day. Frigg had chuckled and Aesir outright laughed every time she woke up with her nose scrunched. That night had been a bath night in a nearby pond they found. She only wished she were able to help them, but she didn’t know how to fight, or at the very least didn’t remember. It wasn’t like she could lift a stone at the present anyway. 

Both of them froze in their musings as they heard howling in the distance. It wasn’t the first time they had heard wolves, but Frigg was getting even more on edge every time she heard them. There hadn’t been many wolves in the whole valley for the years they had lived here. Suddenly, every single night they heard them on the move. Aesir would say that they were moving away from them, but Frigg could tell in his eyes that they were being followed. If he were here, he could tell her if they were closer or not. His ears were far better suited for this kind of tracking than hers. She was used to hearing if a blade was drawn around her or the cries of the battlefield, not the signs of creatures attacking. Vethari, on the other hand, felt oddly comforted in the ever growing closer howls. Which was an odd sensation, as she knew wolves were predators. If anything was proven to be true in these woods, it was that creatures were larger than what she could reason being normal. Though both her companions had been startled when a large moth flew into their camp at night and landed on Vethari's open hand. She had smiled at it and cooed before it flew off lazily. It had been the size of her face at least. She had noted the wolves were tracking of their party and figured that Aesir had as well. If he was a hunter, which felt so familiar to her, then he had to know. If they were being hunted by these wolves, wouldn’t the wolves have already attacked them? This valley couldn’t be that large, could it?

“Get some sleep, Vethari. You’re going to need it for tomorrow.”

Vethari nodded, now concerned for her companions. Were they going to make it out of this mess? She didn’t have too much time to think about it before she drifted off and for the first time since she left the Fade, she had a dream she could fully remember. 

She saw an elven woman who was about five feet six inches tall wearing a loose, sleeveless, brown shirt and dark green breeches with brown footwraps that came to her thighs. The outfit accentuated her muscular shoulders and arms, but they weren’t the arms of a warrior. Most likely an archer, similar to Aesir. Vethari watched as the woman turned, her loose auburn hair brushing across her sun-kissed shoulders. She had honey brown eyes, high cheekbones, and long ears. Her black vallaslin covered her entire face, an arrowhead coming up from her nose to her forehead to lay across a bow that reached from the outer edge of each eyebrow. Short branches sprouted from the bow, curling upward. It almost looked like vines that sprouted from the elaborate fletching at her chin and traveled up her cheeks and curled out at the eyes. More branches filled the rest of the space of her cheeks. The woman sat in a large, interior garden that had many willow trees creating secret alcoves amongst the tall grass and various flowers. She sat in the very middle of the garden on a marble bench surrounding a tiered fountain. The fountain almost seemed to be made of crystal, and whenever the sunlight peeked through the glass ceiling, it turned the whole room into a rainbow. This woman seemed so familiar it hurt her head, until she finally looked at her own hands and then the hands of this other woman. Vethari was shocked to realize she was watching herself grin and cross the garden to greet another woman wearing battle armor and a crown of silver branches that seemed to writhe when looked at from the corner of the eye. 

_“Master, you’ve returned all in one piece. I am pleased.”_ This version of Vethari curtsied quickly. It wasn’t sloppy, but it almost seemed disrespectful with how quick it was. The other woman paid no mind to the speedy gesture. 

_“Ah, yes my dearest one, I return. Did anyone give you trouble while I was out on my hunt?”_ The other woman smiled and removed the crown from her head, giving a sharp whistle. Another elf appeared seemingly from nowhere to take it. Two others started to help the woman remove her armor.

Vethari currently felt a swell of emotions; awe, joy, reverence, love, then finally fear and rage. This dream was feeling more and more like a memory as the woman walked forward and kissed her other self on the head, right on the arrow. Before Vethari could see more, she was pulled from the dream into the blackness of sleep once again. She fought the overwhelming need to awaken and flee, falling into a unrestful sleep. While she was sleeping, Frigg held her close as she shivered fiercely. At this rate, she was terrified that Vethari was going to get sick, but so far the elven woman was holding up well. The Avvar were much more acclimated to the cold, but typically elves were not, unless they were raised in the mountains. That was not too common, unless they were born into an Avvar tribe, but yet again, that was uncommon. She just didn’t know how much more of this she could take. She and Aesir were tiring quickly, especially since Frigg carried Vethari all the time. When it had been just her and Aesir, they were able to get some proper sleep. Even if one of them was heading out to hunt or refill their water supply, they could rest. Not many creatures came towards the secluded cave, but every now and then strange creatures would attack ferociously. The attacks had picked up more and more, and Frigg supposed it was because Vethari was soon to awaken. 

Frigg looked at the frail woman in her arms and sighed, getting more comfortable in the crook of the tree she had found. With her free hand she moved some of Vethari’s hair from her face and looked over the elven face tattoo again. There had been a few elves that had joined their tribe, but she hadn’t listened much when they told stories of their old gods. Aesir had been no help either. He had said it wasn’t something he thought he would need to be able to retell, and it was his first failure as a future skald. Regardless, all the tattoos that she had seen on elves weren’t like this. Vethari’s tattoos looked like they had been shattered into pieces. It was very pretty, but certainly odd. Frigg yawned and continued her watch, not seeing Vethari’s eyes fluttering under her lids from her dreams or the tear that trailed away from her eyes.

\-------------------------------

Aesir was making good progress, but he could feel the continuous travel with less sleep beginning to wear on him. He had grown lax in his vigil of their elven ward. He would arrive at the edge of the tree line in about an hour. Then it was a matter of observing the flow of the river, and testing it if need be. Aesir smirked to himself and then froze. He tilted his head and heard rustling up ahead, maybe a few metres away. He glanced around quickly at his surroundings. He was keeping towards the trees as much as he could, looking out for webs, just in case. Spiders didn’t typically take up residence this close to the river, as they usually preferred the dark caves near the mountains. There was too much brush here for him to confidently believe it was just some hare, but not loud enough to believe it was one of the wolves that had been following them for the entire week they had slowly been getting away from the secret cave. There wasn’t much opportunity to hide, so he swiftly got out his bow and crept closer to the tree he was already near.

He was lucky he was out of view, because a large wild cat slowly crept into view. Aesir didn’t dare move, lest he be seen. The thick canopy above protected him from being revealed by the moonlight, and he quietly thanked the Lady of the Skies for keeping him hidden. The cat’s mate and two cubs followed, still quietly, but less so. This family of apex predators waltzed by Aesir’s hiding spot. Aesir was about to take a step back when he heard a branch snap. At that moment, everything froze. Aesir couldn’t tell where the noise had come from, as it broke across the silence like an avalanche in the winters back at Stone-Bear Hold. The large huntress before him singled out the noise and lept towards the offender of the silent night. It was a careless fox, almost half the size of Aesir, that yelped and began to flee in the opposite direction. Aesir took that as his chance to flee, nocking an arrow just in case. 

He heard snarls behind him and saw that the pair had split up to chase their own nightly meals, but the cubs seemed to have gone with their mother. Aesir quickly turned and fired his arrow as the cat lept to pounce on him. He quickly rolled out of the way, seeing his arrow had shot true and landed in the chest of this great beast. Yet, he nocked another arrow and backed away. The wildlife here was not natural in any way, and he had only made the mistake once, but Frigg had gotten hurt because of it. Aesir’s intuition had been correct and the cat, having skid through the forest floor, pushed itself back up and turned, albeit sluggishly, towards his prey. Aesir drew back his string and released his arrow right into the eye of the beast, drawing another arrow and quickly firing into the other eye as the beast continued to charge. As the beast lept at him again, he leapt to his right, tucking his body into a ball quickly to evade the swipe of this predator. He rolled on the forest floor, feeling the various plants whip over his body as he started to push himself onto his feet with the momentum from the dive.These cats were clever, and that could not be forgotten, lest one lose their life. Aesir scrambled to nock another arrow, and drew back again, but when he had recovered, the beast was dead. 

Aesir knew he didn’t have much time, and as much as he would like to skin the beast and make the pelt into some proper clothes for their elven ward, he couldn’t. He muttered a quick prayer to lay the feline’s spirit to rest whilst retrieving his arrows and fled, using the incoming breeze to lead him to the dull roar of the nearby river. This scouting now had to be twice as quick, as the mother would soon be after him. There wasn’t much he could do to cover his tracks but pray to the gods to deliver him safely. There would be no making camp tonight at this rate to rest. He would have to double back and they would have to both make the trip with no rest. Luckily for the slippery hunter, he made it to the treeline without hearing the telltale moans of despair of a slain partner. He quickly cleaned his arrows, as he now had the time, and looked out the river. 

The moon was waning from it’s halfway point, but the Lady had blessed him with a cloudless night to see the glistening river fifteen meters before him. It lazily flowed, the roar not quite what it had been a month ago. That was the last time he had been able to come and fill their drum with water. Attacks on the cave had spiked after that. Water had been starting to run low before their elven friend woke up. They were quite lucky they had enough for this trip. Surveying the area allowed Aesir to see the lone wyvern lazily circling in the skies. There would be no testing the depths of the river this evening. He would just have to trust that the Lady had revealed to him all he needed to know. He turned around and started to make his way back to Frigg and that was when he heard the howling he expected. He cursed to himself and picked up his pace.

\-------------------------------

Frigg jolted her head up, realizing she had dozed off, as she heard distant howling of a beast in mourning. Those cries weren’t uncommon, but they certainly did not let the soul rest, especially when one’s best friend was out and about. Vethari didn’t stir, as was expected. Frigg felt a pull towards the river from the god she had allowed to possess her momentarily when Vethari first awakened. So she rose to her feet after setting Vethari to the side, quickly strapping her greataxe behind her, making sure it was as easy to grab should she need it. Then she picked the sleeping Vethari back up and began to walk, but felt a more urgent tug and began to jog. Vethari grumbled and slowly opened her eyes, scrunching her nose.

 _“What’s going on?”_ She muttered, her voice raspy from her slumber.

“What?” Frigg couldn’t spare the time to look down at her as she traveled through the woods, avoiding roots and vines.

“What’s going on?” Vethari repeated with the same tenor.

“Trouble, plans have changed.” Frigg was short with her reply, concerned for her friend.

Vethari hummed to note she understood and closed her eyes again, unable to sleep, but trying to rest and focus on recovery as much as possible. She couldn't shake that deep-seated feeling of needing to run. Frigg continued on, not entirely sure what lay ahead, but tiredly trudging on through the remainder of the night. As the sun began to rise, Frigg heard a snarl and then Aesir crying out. For the second time on this journey, Frigg dumped Vethari in a bush with little more than a grunt as the elf impacted with the ground and Frigg charged into battle, drawing her greataxe. She broke into the small clearing to see a large cat scrambling to regain its footing after a pounce while Aesir was freely bleeding from a slash on his left shoulder. Grass and dirt were flying through the air as the beast’s claws tore through the turf for traction. Aesir still clutched his bow in his right hand and he was wincing as he grabbed an arrow from his hip quiver. Frigg didn't have time to figure out how deep the wound was, so instead she charged the beast. 

The feline barely had a moment to react as Frigg rushed forward and swung down on the beast's back, the axe getting stuck in one of the ribs. Just missing the spine, where she had hoped to land. There was a sickening crack as some of the ribs snapped and others merely fractured. The beast yowled, striking out at Frigg with its paws, trying to take advantage of the close range but not fully able to move due to its new wounds. Up close, Frigg could see that Aesir had already fired shots into its chest and rump. More arrows than typically required, even on the beasts in this strange land so close to the Lady. Frigg was able to leap back and yank her axe out of the creature in one fell swoop. Aesir fired an arrow that whizzed right past Frigg's head. Frigg wanted to look over her shoulder and check on him, but there was no time. The wound was bad if he was missing his shots. May have torn a muscle. She had to intimidate the creature and make sure it focused on her and not the easier prey. The enormous cat staggered back to its feet, bleeding heavily from the side, but still had enough fight left in them. Frigg tried not to be intimidated by this beast being almost eye level. Was it a mountain lion, a tiger? She had no clue, but that didn’t matter when it was life or death. Frigg roared as the cat charged her, causing her target to stagger back mid dash. Frigg ran forward and leapt at the last moment. She slammed her axe down on the beast's skull as hard as she could. When she couldn't immediately pull the weapon out, she backed up and drew the dagger from her leg, twirling it in her hand. There was no need, as the beast was dead. Frigg started to survey the area and saw two cubs, the size of a normal mountain lion, slinking towards where Vethari lay, defenseless. 

Aesir was already a step ahead of her and fired twice in rapid succession, seeming to pull through the pain, and landing blows on both creatures. Only one turned to snarl at their attacker, just to be met with the charging force that is Frigg. She swung her axe up to cleave the head of the creature straight from its shoulders while Aesir walked forward and kept firing arrows desperately. He only was hitting half of his shots and the wound in his shoulder was bleeding profusely. Frigg succeeded in her task and charged forward just as the other cub was attempting to pounce at Vethari, who was staring at the scene in horror. Frigg swept her axe across the hind legs of her target, then yanking it free to bury it in her opponent’s spine. She ripped her axe out and spun around wildly, making sure there were no other threats and that all three attackers were down for the count. Aesir was slowly yanking arrows out of beast and ground alike, making his way towards her.

“Vethari, are you alright?” Frigg dropped her axe and walked the remaining distance between her and their charge.

“Who is Vethari?” Aesir could be heard grimacing as he got closer.

“Okay!” Vethari croaked out, her heart still pounding from death looking her in the face. She was trying to assess her pain levels through the massive adrenaline rush coursing through her. Mild pokes from branches and a bruises bottom, but no broken bones or bleeding wounds. She looked up as Frigg and then Aesir approached her and felt her bottom lip tremble. Frigg was covered in blood, it splattered across her war paint and clothes. Aesir was bleeding profusely from his shoulder, but it seemed to be mostly surface layer due to the fact he could still use his arm. Maybe a stitch or two would be required. He was lucky. They all were, and she felt absolutely horrible that she could be of no assistance to them. Or at the very least walk on her own.

“Well, now that that’s over. Can I get some help?” Aesir tossed his bow and retrieved arrows to the ground before he sat.

Frigg grabbed at her satchel and pulled out some bandages. She went through the arduous process of washing out the wound and following Aesir’s instructions on the herbs needed to prevent infection. 

_“He needs a few stitches.”_ Vethari struggled to push herself up for a moment, but was successful in getting into a sitting up position.

“What did she say?” Frigg looked between the two of them, clearly frustrated with the turn of events.

“I need stitches. Do you have the needle and thread still? I think I can see where she is talking about. Good eye, Vethari.” Aesir smiled weakly and continued to direct Frigg with some help from Vethari. 

After a few minutes, the wound was bound and Vethari had busied herself with weakly cleaning off his arrows. She was determined to help in any way she could. Frigg told them both to sit and relax while she went about harvesting meat and pelts from the creatures, leaving enough to be reclaimed from the wild. This process went into the morning, both of the injured sleeping on and off while the warrior worked tirelessly. Around the time when the sun was high in the sky, Frigg woke her companions, picking up her elven companion and beginning the trek to the river. Aesir carried what salvaged furs he could in his bags, trying to lighten the load for Frigg. Vethari eagerly watched as over the course of the next few hours as the forest got more and more sparse. Finally, the trio approached the edge of the forest to see the lazily flowing river before them, with no creatures in sight.

“See, told you. There’s no more snow to be melted.” Aesir huffed, clearly proud of himself. 

“I see that. Let’s make it across and then you can be prideful.” Frigg shook her head and observed the skies, hoping for easy passage.


	4. The Ruins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for how long it took to get this chapter out. The world has exploded with terrible events (to put it lightly) and it's taken its toll on me to stay updated, be as vocal as I can, and work increased hours at my job. I will try to get the next chapter written as soon as possible. Thank you for all of your comments and kudos!
> 
> 27th July update: I really did not like this chapter when I reread it, so hopefully this breathes some life into it.

The water was frigid and caused Vethari to gasp for air as Frigg pushed her way through the currents, causing water to splash onto her frail frame. She was already cold since they took away her furs and rolled them up onto Aesir's shoulders. They explained to her it was to have a way to keep her warm when they reached the other side, which felt impossibly far away to her. She clutched her companions shoes to her chest, having been determined to be helpful in some small way. It involved a little bit of bickering, which they could understand each other easier. Whatever was going on with this river, the spirits from the Fade were close and able to help. They would have better balance if they could feel the rocks and soil beneath them, was what Vethari had argued. The other two had shared a look and agreed. The next few minutes before entering the water had consisted of finding rope and vines to strap the rolled up furs carefully to Aesir and the boots to Vethari. The water had started out at Frigg's ankles and quickly changed to calf deep. Frigg had hissed when it suddenly plunged to waist deep. Vethari yelped, surprising both of her companions into checking their balance. The water roared off to the side as rocks she couldn't see crested above the flowing waters caused rapids to begin. Luckily it was farther up the river, so there was no fear of crashing into the rocks, but it did cause the water to rush by in spurts. Vethari was just glad she didn't have to walk through it, though she wondered if there had been bridges at one point. 

Frigg surveyed their immediate surroundings before trudging forward. The riverbed was mostly mud mixed with the occasional rounded stone. If she wasn't so used to playing barefoot as a child and working up her calluses, she may have had an issue. Now wasn't the time to meditate on the past. Frigg regretted that she couldn't hold their elven companion above her head to keep her dry, as she needed to use all her strength to keep going forward. She hated to see Vethari chattering her teeth and was almost certain she would get sick from this, but all she could do was pray to the gods as she continued forward, hearing Aesir slowly sloshing through the river behind her. If he fell, he would have to save himself, or Frigg would have to try and find him after getting Vethari to safety. She could only hope the predatory birds of this valley had already had their fill for the day. 

Aesir was saying his own prayers for their triad as he watched Vethari shiver and Frigg push herself to her limits to maintain balance and not think of the cold waters herself. His arm hurt, but that didn't keep him from trudging through. He hadn't expected the currents to be so fast in this one area, but he hadn't seen the rocks further up the river making the water more turbulent. Aesir couldn't stop himself from glancing at the skies periodically to make sure that pesky wyvern didn't come to terrorize them. He has seen the creature before when he and Frigg had first arrived and when they would hunt, but never so close before. He shivered as he stepped through a deeper part of the river that came up to his armpits, wincing harshly as the water chilled his damaged shoulder. He glanced ahead, realizing they were only halfway. If the river got any deeper, they ran the risk of having to fight off fish or the various reptiles that swam throughout the rivers. The furs were also going to be soaked by the time they reached the other side, but maybe the ones by his head would turn out alright. 

The group continued forward, struggling against the flow of the currents and their own growing exhaustion. Each step they took felt like a gargantuan effort, but the spirits were close here and able to lend their strength to all three travelers. Even the spirits had grown worried about Vethari's survival chances, and were watching even more closely. The river eventually started to grow more shallow as they reached the three quarter waypoint. Frigg suddenly froze, causing Aesir to bump into her. Frigg gasped and started to fall forward and Aesir grabbed her clothes with one hand, trying not to use his wounded arm unless absolutely necessary. However, Frigg was heavy and Vethari was mostly wet dead-weight at the moment, so he had to dig his feet into the stone and soil beneath him and strain to keep her from toppling over. Frigg watched in horror as a large crocodile swam lazily in front of her, surfacing just to let them know it was present. She was grateful that Aesir pulled her back and tried to restabilize herself without disturbing the creature in front of her. She waited a moment, looking through the water around them and didn't see any more. Aesir was wise enough not to ask what happened, or maybe he saw the beast crest the water beyond her. Frigg stepped forward, encouraged by how close to the bank they were. She didn't see any more crocodiles on the banks ahead, which was another relief. Only a couple more minutes and they would be on the other side of this obstacle. But of course it wouldn't be so easy. 

"Run!" Aesir shouted and rushed beside Frigg, practically jumping out of the water to try and get through faster. 

Frigg started to rush forward, the water pushing back against her legs as she went, when she felt a great gust of wind almost knock her over. She glanced off to her right and immediately regretted doing so. A large blue wyvern nosedived and swept up the crocodile that had been swimming past them moments before. Frigg clutched Vethari closer and ran, grateful that the water was slowly only coming up to her mid calf and then ankles as they reached the bank of the river. There was no time to rest however, as they heard the cries of the wyvern above them. The treeline was farther away, the forests on this side of the river being thinner than that of the more wild northern forests. Such was the evidence that civilization had touched this secluded valley before. Vethari's teeth were still chattering and her breath was coming in shallow gulps. 

Paying no mind to the rocks beneath their feet, the Avvar ran. Typically, Aesir would be in the lead or Frigg would pull ahead in a longer dash if she were not carrying a load, but both felt the pull of exhaustion on their muscles. What they could not see behind them was the crocodile thrashing in the claws of the wyvern and managing to hit one of its wings with its tail. This caused the wyvern to list wildly to the side, narrowly avoiding landing. The crocodile threw its weight again, causing the two to land, and managing to escape the claws of the wyvern, bleeding profusely and sluggish himself. 

As the triad reached the treeline, Aesir glanced back to see the wyvern launch itself away from the crocodile as it snapped at it before wrapping its claws around its mouth, keeping its mouth shut. Frigg shouted for him to come on and he followed her into the still large, but sparse trees where one could peer up at the sky in places. They did not stop until they could no longer hear the river or any beast roaring in the distance. By this time it was late in the afternoon and camp was necessary. There was no food left in their packs, yet Aesir had the wits about him to fill the water skins in the earliest parts of the river. All three were exhausted, but there was still work to be done. 

"At least we are dry now." Aesir grumbled before yawning, making a comfortable, hidden place for Vethari to sleep in the underbrush. The exertion and lengthy travel after the river had given them some time to air dry. 

"Aye," Frigg tugged her boots on, yawning herself, "but we need food. Watch Vethari while I go scavenge some berries. If I'm not back by the time you are completely comfortable, I need help."

"Some help I will be."

Frigg moved Vethari, who was still damp on the side that had been pressed into Frigg, onto the bed of underbrush. She informed Aesir to start a fire and get her warm and dry. Aesir nodded, collecting stones and twigs as Frigg nearly stumbled into the wood. Vethari shivered fiercely and watched as Aesir started the fire, far more sluggish than usual. She was a ways away from it, as they didn't want to burn the whole forest down, but could still feel the warmth and appreciate the small amount of feeling that started to re enter her toes. Aesir maneuvered all the furs and his own pack off of himself and set them down. The furs he went through to check if they were dry. He sighed to himself as only the top set was still dry, but that was Vethari's and that was far more important. He turned to look and see his companion shivering, but staring at him with a determination he hadn't seen there before. He nodded to himself, that was enough proof that she was going to get better. He walked over to her to help her get out of her damp clothes. 

She complied as Aesir removed most of her outer layers and hung them up to dry on a drying stand he made with large sticks. She had watched him make it, amazed that he was still going at this point. He had left her vision at one point, but she focused on trying to keep herself sitting upright while holding her knees to her chest. She was going to make it through this, she kept telling herself. He removed most of his clothes and added them to the makeshift drying rack along with two sets of furs before sitting with her. He wrapped her furs around her shoulders and sat close, trying to share whatever warmth her could while letting her have her own space. The two enjoyed the warmth from the fire and the crackling and popping that filled the air. Eventually, Aesir started to treat his bowstring, wincing lightly as he moved his left arm. He hated staying idle, especially when they weren't safe. Vethari blinked rapidly, trying to stop her eyes from drooping. She needed the food Frigg would bring back, and she knew she was hard to wake right now. 

After more silence and the sun rays that peeked through the canopy above slightly moving, Frigg returned with more than just berries. She set her bag down in front of the pair and started to strip her own damp clothing off, rotating clothing where she could for an even dry. Aesir smiled as he saw the bag with a healthy portion of berries, nuts and even a couple fruits. He pulled out the plum-like fruits and started to cut them into pieces to hand to Vethari. Frigg came over and started opening the nuts and holding them in her palm for Vethari to grab. Vethari tried to argue, but both her companions just gave her a look. She understood they would not be able to rest until she had her portion. It took her a bit to eat, but as she was nibbling on her last slice of fruit, the other two began to eat ravenously. Vethari yawned as she finished eating her food, slowly laying herself down. Guilt was slowly crawling its way through her veins, and she intended to be asleep before the burden of it could take hold in her heart. Frigg and Aesir argued a little about who would take first watch, but they both lay down as Vethari's eyes drift shut.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

After that, it took them about a week to make it to what was their safe haven, where it should have only taken them two days. They had all panicked that morning after the river, as no one had been on watch. Vethari dreamt that large black wolves had been guarding them while they slept, but kept this to herself. It was just a dream after all. That day they had been able to travel the furthest, but Aesir tried to warn Frigg not to overexert herself as they had only had one night of rest amongst weeks of stress. Vethari caught onto that, but neither would elaborate and Frigg pushed herself too hard anyway.

Frigg was exhausted after that, enough that Vethari made them stop only a couple hours into the day. Not that they understood her when she said in rushed Elvhen, _"I refuse to have the both of you die trying to carry my weak, pathetic body to wherever we are going. Make camp and rest, for spirit's sake!"_ They only understood when she repeatedly tugged on Frigg's furs and said, "no" repeatedly. They had all slept the rest of that day. Vethari actually woke up before dawn to see them both sleeping. She thought she also saw a bushy tail disappear behind a tree, but felt no danger from it. This she decided to keep to herself. There was no sense in having them worry even more and try and push even faster than they could go. Even if it made her question her dreams more that she had before. She had more than enough time to mull it over.

Aesir kept their pace slow after that. His body was trying to heal from a shoulder wound that would take two months to fully heal without assistance. Frigg sterilized and changed the bandages as often as she could, but there was only so much spare cloth. He tired easily, and they had to be even more careful because he couldn't help defend them without tearing the stitches they managed to make for him out of some spider's silk they came across. It got to the point where Frigg and Aesir began to argue while Vethari was awake. 

"If we don't get there faster, we could starve. You haven't been able to hunt since the lions attacked you, and we cannot survive off of berries and nuts for much longer. Your stitches could become infected. I don't have any more clean, spare cloth to cover it with. Vethari could have cold sickness and we wouldn't be able to treat it. We have to push harder." Frigg glared at Aesir across the campfire. Vethari popped another blackberry into her mouth slowly and looked between the two, knowing things had been tense, but hoping they wouldn't come to a head before they arrived. 

"If we speed up, you could become exhausted and fall, hurting Vethari. You won't be able to scavenge food for us in the evening. Then I will have to tear my stitches and then worse things than infection will occur just so we can eat. If we go any faster, the beasts of the forest could attack us again, and we would be near helpless. If Vethari had cold sickness, we would know by now. She's basically stopped shivering. We stay at our current pace, we will be there in three days." Aesir tried to remain calm, but their was a clear strain in his tone as he tried to calm his friend. 

"I will become exhausted if I stave, Aesir. You know-" Frigg sneered back, waving her hand as she started to continue her rebuttal before she was interrupted. 

"I know you have always struggled with patience. Do not attempt to bicker with me due to overconfidence based on your strength. Even the strongest falters if pushed too far and you are on the brink. Don't think I haven't seen you catching your footing while walking behind you. Do not act so brash that you forget why we are here!" Aesir's voice raised slightly, but he did not move. He continued to stare straight at Frigg. 

Vethari cleared her throat, feeling a surge of strength and understanding flow through her, "I understand you're both under a lot of stress right now, but I really think the wise course of action it to go at a slower pace. Besides, this side of the river has felt safer. We could all rest instead of you both constantly taking watch, which would help all of us."

They both slowly looked over to her. Vethari was sitting up straight and changing her gaze between the two evenly. They looked at each other and sighed. 

"I suppose even the gods want us to stop our bickering, if they bolster Vethari so." Frigg seemed to smile to herself and started to relax. 

"How do you know it's safer here, on this side of the river?" Aesir shifted so he was sitting with his legs crossed as opposed to on his side. 

Vethari looked away for a minute, not sure how she knew. She could mention her dreams of wolves guarding them in their sleep and seeing dark fur left near her when she woke, but she didn't want to cause any alarm. "I can just feel it in the air. The Fade is so prevalent here, it's easy to tell."

"The Fade? You mean the realm of the gods?" Aesir raised an eyebrow. He had always heard that elves were more attuned to the realm of dreams than humans, but he didn't know it was so much so that they could feel how it changed so easily. It had taken him weeks to understand and feel the different ways it changed the world around him. 

"Yes, I suppose so." Vethari yawned then, asking her companions to trust her. 

So they did, and got better rest than they had in some time. Which helped them in the long run, as they still had to get the camp on the ruins back up and properly running. The hours leading up to their arrival made Vethari incredibly nervous. She kept seeing glimpses of a temple between the trees. It felt like they were never going to arrive and rid her of the sinking pit in her stomach. However, when they did arrive, Vethari felt a twinge of pain in her heart as the pit in her stomach waned. 

The ruins before them were magnificent, and most certainly Elven, she communicated as such, much to the surprise of her party. One could plainly see the ancient city had been built surrounding something large, but not the massive temple that still stood far before them. The outskirts had no trees, but it looked like the inner city did have some normal sized trees. As they entered, Vethari not only could see her companions relax, but also feel a calming energy flood over her. It felt familiar to where she had been trapped for who knows how long, but not chaos. It also felt familiar to something she could not quite grasp without becoming light-headed from the effort. 

Most of the outskirts were little more than piles of rubble, but a few houses held their skeletons up. Some looked purely stone and others looked like a fossilized wood. All had moss and grass trying to take over what they could. Each still standing house varied in size, most likely depending on the size of the family that lived there. They were all very close together, leaving little space for personal gardens that were now overgrown and nigh impossible to make out. However, Vethari recognized where the gardens were supposed to be and told her companions. She didn't see the surprised look they exchanged after. The pathways were, for the most part, overgrown with grass. However, where they walked only moss grew between the cracks of polished stone walkways. Like they were still frequently used, but that couldn't possibly be true. Vethari felt something lightly tug at her towards some of the remaining standing lampposts that lined that pathways. She wasn't sure that it was more than the breeze, but they did feel different on some level she couldn't quite pick up on. 

The further they walked, the less crowded housing they saw. Soon it became grand overgrown public gardens with chipping statues and broken archways, crumbling store fronts with rotting signage, and overtaken gathering places with ivy covered benches. More trees became prevalent in the environment as they continued, and a few of the thicker ones seemed to have broken mirrors in them that were as tall as a person. They almost looked like doorways, and seeing them further tugged on the creeping headache developing in Vethari's mind. The group stopped in an open plaza that was surprisingly clear of grass and rubble. There was the large, mostly unbroken temple before them, with smaller ruined ones flanking either side and continuing behind to complete whatever circle this city was built around. Vethari couldn't tear her eyes away from the temple as Frigg led them off to the side. It appeared to be an old blacksmith shop that had been repurposed as a safe haven for weary travelers. Vethari wondered how many travelers came through here, or who else had stayed in the ruins of this elven civilization. There were three beds, but one seemed heavily underused. That was exactly where Frigg put Vethari down and it felt unexpectedly comfortable. 

That was when the real work began, as they were lucky no other living creatures decided to move in. Frigg started pulling dusty logs from beside the fireplace and went to make a fire. Aesir silently wandered across the plaza and walked into another store, disappearing from sight when he went down into hopefully a cellar. Frigg got the fire going and walked out the back. Vethari thought she could see a well out of the back window, but wasn't entirely sure. Aesir came back with all kinds of vegetables and meats in his hands, along with a couple bottles of wine. It was amusing to see him trying to peer over his pile of goodies before setting them down on a dust free counter Frigg had cleaned off before heading out. Frigg came back with two buckets of water and set them down, starting to look around for something. At this point, Vethari's eyes began to droop shut despite her best attempts to stay awake. The two of them surely didn't need her awake. 


	5. The Road to Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your patience and kudos! Enjoy!

All three of them slept hard for the next couple days. A couple days with some good food was all it took to get Frigg and Aesir running at almost normal capacity. Vethari lazily watched them divy out tasks to one another, but with smiles on their faces. They seemed relaxed here, which helped Vethari relax and continue to sleep well. Frigg was to patrol the alleys near the smithy and general store first thing in the morning and just before they locked up for the evening, just to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. After her morning patrol, she'd gather their water for the day and have breakfast that Aesir prepared. Then she would make sure Vethari relieved herself before heading out of the ruins to gather firewood until the afternoon. In the meantime, Aesir would clean up their breakfast, make sure Vethari was comfortable, and head across the street and behind the general store to the unkempt gardens to weed and harvest what had been growing in their absence. The two would return to the blacksmith's for lunch with Vethari and then stay there for the remainder of the day. Frigg would go out back and practice her fighting form and exercise. Aesir would hang up herbs to dry and start to prep some of the vegetables to store. Sometimes he would have to leave to find containers for pickling and making jams. He spent most of his day cooking. Frigg would sometimes come in early and eagerly help until shooed out of the kitchen. Then she would find small pieces of wood and start to carve them with a knife, keeping an eye on Vethari and taking her to relieve herself if necessary. Aesir would take his prepped food back to the general store and into the cellar, before returning and making dinner. Then they would both clean up the house before Frigg took her patrol and they bed down for the night. 

Vethari would sleep throughout the day, making some conversation with Aesir and Frigg during lunch and while they idly worked in the afternoons. The conversations were typically just them teaching her different words or explaining what they were doing, as she often didn't turn to look at them. She seemed more exhausted now that they were here than when they were in the woods. She assured them it was because she could finally relax, so her body was taking up all her energy trying to recover. But whenever they tried to ask her about her surroundings, just to make sure she was lucid, she could never answer. Everything was fuzzy, other than them telling her exactly where they went each day. That worried her, but she would have plenty of time to remember her surroundings when she could walk on her own again. This was their routine for the next three weeks. In that time, Aesir's stitches were removed and his wound was healing, a little quicker than should be expected, but things were strange in this valley. They ate well and eagerly watched as Vethari started to put on weight and her complexion improved. 

It was the second day of the fourth week that Vethari slowly pushed herself up into an upright position as Frigg opened the door coming back from patrol. The room was silent as Frigg and Aesir just stared. Vethari grinned and swung her legs over the side of the bed, eagerly wiggling her bare toes on the floor. The stretching silence in the room broke as Aesir set the iron pan to the side, bacon and eggs still sizzling, and rushed up to Vethari laughing. Frigg smiled, setting her weapon by the threshold and moving to plate the food before it burned. 

"Well, look at you! How are you feeling?" Aesir held his hand to her forehead, checking for fever. While there was genuine concern in his eyes, there was such a joyous light there that Vethari couldn't help but laugh with glee. Her voice was a full sound, no longer weak and raspy as it was more than a month before. 

"I feel better than I have in a long time, honestly." She admitted. 

"Good, that means I don't have to feed you anymore." Frigg walked up with a plate of honeycakes, bacon, eggs, and berries and handed it to her. 

Vethari put it in her lap with some shaking of her arms, but was happy to see that her secretly trying to push herself up when they were both gone had paid off. She looked up and took in a proper look at her surroundings while she ate. The room was rather large, as it had clearly been not only a forge, but a well stocked shop at one point. The walls were stone, with wooden beams holding up a slanted wooden roof, so no secondary floor. A smokestack was on the other side of the room on the right side for the forge, which had now been repurposed as a fireplace. Her bed was pushed up against the wall so that she could easily see the entire room. To her right was the front door and on the side closest to the forge there was one wooden panel that seemed to open outward to create a store window and allow ventilation. There were three on the other side of the door, one on the wall she leaned against. They had clearly been painted beautifully at one point, but the varnish on the wood had not faded, surprisingly. For now they were latched and locked. She did see a key ring hanging beside the door, so she guessed they could be opened. To the left of the forge from where she was sitting was an anvil, which seemed to be the only other remaining piece of equipment for this smithy. Behind the anvil, against the wall was their growing stack of firewood and kindling. Looking back at the window panels, that seemed to be where Aesir was hanging all of their herbs and smaller vegetables for quick use. To the immediate right of her was a rectangular table that Aesir and Frigg were sitting at, eating and discussing what Frigg had and hadn't seen on her patrol. Mostly nothing from how the conversation was going. 

Vethari scooped some honeycake into her mouth and hummed happily at the sweetness as she continued to view her surroundings. Her bed was parallel to the wall, the head facing the rear of the building. Meanwhile, her friend's beds were perpendicular to the wall and only a couple feet away from her bed on either side. They tried to guard her, even in their sleep. To the left, starting from the opposite wall and coming three fourths of the way across the room was a large counter. Behind it were a few cabinets, but mostly tables. Supplies lay across the counter top in mostly neat formations. Extra clothes, thread, extra blankets, sharpening stones, Aesir's bow and quiver, bandages, and various jars and pouches of herbs. Vethari could see where someone had brought in a stone basin for water under the back window. Then by the back door, which was currently closed, was a large wooden tub, which Vethari could vaguely remember being bathed in. There were baskets in various places. The ones near the forge seemed to have potatoes, tubers, and grains, a smaller one by the counter seemed to hold fruit, and one by the back door held clothing. Vethari wondered which of them was actually the organized one, or if they both were. She realized she didn't really even know how long they had known each other. Or how they got here. Or where they were from. 

She turned to ask them, but was met with Aesir handing her a cup of water. "Drink up, the honeycakes were a little dry today. A good treat for such an exciting morning, hm?" 

She took the cup and had a hearty sip before clearing her throat and speaking in only slightly broken Common, pausing to correct herself when she stumbled over a word. "So, where are we? Where _do you hail-_ are you from? What _year are-_ How old are you both? How is your arm? Please, tell me about yourselves."

Frigg pulled the two chairs over in front of the bed, sitting heavily. Aesir also sat, showing more emotion than his counterpart. "Well, that's a lot of questions. We are in ancient Elvhen ruins, as you pointed out to us on our way in. Which was very surprising, by the way". Aesir paused and took a sip from his own cup, having clearly already finished his breakfast. "More specifically, we are in the Valley of Anodyne. I'm not entirely sure when it was named as such, but we found some notes of other protectors and I just so happen to know how to read a little bit."

"Which I would say is ridiculous, because Avvar don't need books, but it surprisingly came in handy." Frigg looked from Aesir to Vethari, "He likes to tell stories. Also, we keep that a secret between us."

"I wanted to be a Skald before we were called here, but duty calls." Aesir shrugged. 

"What's a Skald?" Vethari looked between the two of them, trying to process Aesir's bubbly personality and read the nonexistent facial expressions on Frigg. 

"Um," Frigg scratched the back of her head, "I hear they call them bards in Orlais." 

Vethari blinked, unsure what an Orlais was, but fairly certain she understood what a bard was. Aesir noted her confusion and gave her a meek smile, "Just a storyteller. I would pass down tales of our clan between clans and generations. But back onto your questions. I am one and twenty years old. Frigg is two years my senior."

"And I will never let him forget it." She smirked softly, almost unperceivable if Vethari weren't looking for it. Frigg kicked her feet up onto the footboard of the bed and draped her arm behind Aesir on her right, leaning back casually. 

"It's not enough for you to be taller than me, hm? Anyway, the arm is healing well. I suspect the gods have been aiding my recovery as they have yours. You called them spirits, like other cultures do." Aesir pulled his legs up to sit with his legs crossed in the chair. 

"I have many _queries-_ questions from all of that, but you still haven't told me about yourselves." Vethari started to finish up her fresh berries and waited expectantly. 

"I suppose I'll go first, since Aesir loves to speak for far too long." Frigg set her feet back on the floor and leaned forward. "We are from a place called the Frostback Basin and hail from Stone-bear Hold. We've been here for six years now, led here by our ancestors and the gods, your spirits. I am my mother's only child, she died in childbirth. My father died when I was seventeen, which triggered the calling. She was a warrior and my father a mage, as your people would say. So I didn't really have much to leave behind but my home. No one to come back to, and as far as we knew, there was no coming back. As I'm sure you can tell, I am a warrior, and have been since I was but a child. I like carving small wooden figurines. That's about it."

Vethari nodded slowly, processing and clarifying what words she didn't understand. "Thank you for being so open. What do you mean when you talk about being called here?" 

"I believe Aesir talked about this one of our first days on the road, but for many generations our bloodlines have been called to this valley, which as far as we know, no one can access or even knows about." She looked over to Aesir, as if looking for confirmation. 

He nodded solemnly, "For thousands of years, our ancestors came here for an unknown purpose. They never came back to tell the tale. Some left behind what notes they could, those that knew how to write. Others made the farm across the way, prepared this building, made paths, noted safe hunting grounds. Most of the notes are almost impossible to read. It seems almost like some didn't even find their purpose here or just came to clear out a great beast that threatened the valley. But the true reason for being called was that the spirits wanted you protected in that little cave tucked in the back of the valley."

"I understand I was asleep for a long time, but how did I need to be protected?" Vethari felt a growing guilt in her chest, but squanched it. Guilt would not give these people their lives back or their ancestor's lives back. All she could do was make their sacrifices worth it by living. 

"We wondered that for the first year after we found you. And it took us three years to find you, another to create a solid map of the place. It was fairly quiet for a while, but something happened that tore open the sky after that. Green fissures would open up, but never in the valley. They would appear just outside the mountains, and it seemed to pull gods through and corrupt them. They were never able to enter the valley, and would wander off. When that happened, the wildlife changed from their mostly peaceful demeanor to almost crazed. Infrequently, they would charge at the cave and we would have no choice but to cut them down. The worst was the spiders." Frigg stood and went to open the windows to allow some light in, which Vethari first squinted at, but then appreciated as the sun warmed her skin. 

Aesir picked up where Frigg left off. "Yes, and then sometimes corrupted humanoids would burst from the ground and rush us. Those were worse than spiders, but much less frequent. In the two weeks before you woke, we were getting attacked every day. We didn't think we would be able to hold them off any longer and that we would fail. Then the scar the Lady bore healed, and the animals calmed down. Minutes later we heard breathing behind us and came to check on you. You startled us quite soundly. And now we are here, waiting on your recovery, hoping we are not attacked, especially as I cannot fire an arrow to save my life, let alone yours, and then we will take you home." 

Partway through his explanation, Frigg returned to her seat and just watched Vethari's reaction and much as Vethari watched hers. Aesir looked like he couldn't believe they were talking about going home, and Vethari couldn't blame him, especially if what they said was true. Vethari was silent as she processed the information laid before her. Luckily, they were both patient and allowed her time to process and ask for some clarifications. Finally she took a deep breath and set her plate to the side. 

"But why? Why was I asleep so long?" Her fists balled up as a headache crept it's way into her skull. She was trying to remember something, anything. 

"We were hoping you could tell us. What do you remember?" Aesir looked at her hands, starting to show concern. 

"I keep getting glimpses of memories, but every time I try to remember, I either pass out or get a headache."

Vethari looked up to both of them, feeling defeated that she couldn't share with them the way they were sharing with her. 

"Well, let me tell you some things about myself before we go about our daily chores, which we may have to move around. I imagine your legs aren't going to work very well for a while." Aesir gave her a smile before continuing, "I've already told you how I wanted to be a Skald. I do not know who my mother was, which isn't entirely uncommon. I am the youngest of four siblings, with a different mother than my two brothers and one sister. My father is quite the warrior himself, and I miss him the most. My siblings mother still treats me kindly, much to the annoyance of my siblings. We got along just fine when we were younger. Frigg and I actually grew up together, as our fathers were close. Though she's looked after me more this trip than I have her, even though I promised to keep her safe. Not that she really needs me for more than to watch her back."

"An important job that I only trust you with. None of those other archers keep a steady eye on their front line like you do." Frigg cut in before standing and starting to collect all of the dishes. 

"Nonetheless, I believe that answers all your questions."

"Have your families always been friends like you two?" Vethari wiped crumbs off of her lap, noting the weight she had gained. Still a bit too skinny, and it was all fat. She had an inkling that she used to be strong, much like her companions were strong. She very much wished to get back to that point. 

"No, actually. There have been times where our ancestors fought and times where they didn't even know the other existed until they were called here and met. We've seen the spirits reenact some of their history for us, just to help us understand our purpose better. Our ancestors have lived in some harmony together before, but never as close as we have at our Hold." Aesir set his feet down and stood, moving to take the chairs back to the table where they belonged. 

"Now," Frigg walked over and put her hands on her hips, "let's get you into some shape, hm? We need you walking if we're to get out of this place alive."

With that she put her muscular arms under Vethari's. Vethari held her wrist behind Frigg's head and took a deep breath before Frigg lifted, bending her back to keep Vethari's feet on the floor. She slightly gave Vethari some weight on her own feet, which caused her legs to wobble. Frigg chuckled to herself, startling Vethari. 

"Remember how we used to teach the toddlers of the Hold to walk?" She mentioned, rotating her head in Vethari's chest to look at Aesir. 

Aesir just grinned and nodded, walking out to the back yard. Vethari looked between them both in confusion as Frigg set her back down on the bed. 

"Be right back, Veth." Frigg jogged out the back door, following Aesir and leaving a slightly miffed Vethari with her arms crossed on her bed.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The pathways of the ancient city had changed much since the last time he had seen it. Grass overtook the pathways, vines climbed over buildings, and houses had collapsed on themselves. The worst was the shattered eluvians. There had been so many here and they had been her pride and joy. The wolf huffed, shaking his head back and forth, not entirely used to the sentimental thoughts crossing his mind. The wolf opened his eyes, which glowed bright green and continued following the scent he had been tracking for weeks. His whole pack had to be left behind at the borders of the remains. Their orders were to patrol, but never to be seen or leave tracks. The wolf stuck his nose to the sky, confirming the rain that would arrive by tomorrow. It would be difficult to keep an eye out, but orders were orders.

He continued for a few more minutes down the main thoroughfare before his ears perked to the sound of laughter. A place like this had not heard laughter in quite some time. The wolf wandered into an alleyway, continuing to follow the sound of wood hitting earth repeatedly, heavy breathing, and people encouraging. Soon, the wolf came upon the back of the old blacksmith shop. The back had an old, rotting wooden fence around the back with bushes and vines surrounding it. Inside the yard there were a few training dummies and a new addition of two wooden planks parallel to the ground that almost looked like some strange fence. One of the people in the yard was holding themselves up by these planks taking deep breaths. 

_Get closer._

The wolf huffed and slunk closer, hiding behind one of the bushes. There were the two humans there who had been here for quite some time. The smaller one stood on the sidelines, a bandage around his shoulder, keeping an eye on the built support system while offering encouragement to who was using them. The other taller human stood beside the person trying to maintain their balance, arms out ready to catch them. She looked heavily concerned, and reminded the person not to lock their knees. The last person brought a surge of emotions through the wolf who bared his teeth in response. It was an elven woman whose arms were trembling and knees shaking with the effort of what she was doing. Sweat permeated her tunic that clung to her as a sheet and dripped from her face. Strands of her brown hair adhered to her face and down her neck, the rest was tied into a ratty bun. Her skin was sickly pale and her features not as gaunt as they were weeks ago, yet her cheekbones were too distinct. Her arms and legs no longer looked like twigs, but barely enough fat was there to not be concerned. Her legs were bound to sanded planks of wood to help keep them straight and her arms were strained, but upon closer examination, some muscle seemed to be forming there. They would need to lead more than hares to the traps that had been set the week before. Something with more fat. Maybe some duck would do. 

_Her face, focus there._

The wolf refocused, seeing the human woman help her away from the supports and sit her in a chair the human male had brought outside. A surge of power flowed through the wolf and once again he could understand their speech. 

"It's only been two weeks and you're doing quite well. Especially since just a few days ago, Frigg was still having to support you." The male handed the pale woman a skin of water. 

"You're right, but curse this infernal hair." She panted out, bringing the skin to her lips shakily. The other woman reached out to steady her, so as not to waste water. 

"I tried to brush it out, but I can't have you screaming in pain like that. It might attract any manner of creature, more than the smoke from us cooking would." The woman, Frigg, had her back turned to the wolf's location and blocking the view of the woman. 

"Then just cut it off, all of it. I will have more than enough time to grow it back, and I can't even wash it properly." She huffed back, her hand raising to her face, most likely to wipe away sweat. 

"Alright, I'll go grab a dagger then. Aesir, we've gone on fairly long. Do you mind going out to try and find those chickens again? I've almost got the coop finished next door. I want to be ready for winter, just in case." Frigg stood up tall and stretched her neck by leaning her head to the left and right. 

"Sure, but only if you help clear the debris behind the general store tomorrow to make room for more farmland. We will need good seed to keep them fed." Aesir stretched himself and walked into the shop, leaving the door open behind him. 

"Can do. Vethari, don't fall over. I'll be right back."

The wolf felt his heart begin to race and couldn't help but feel his tail wag behind him. He inched forward as the large human woman walked into the shop herself, also leaving the door open. 

He watched as the woman they had called Vethari let her honey brown eyes pass over the area while trying to control her breathing. Her ears were long, longer than the average elf's ears. But a pit dropped in the wolf's stomach that almost made him whine as he sank lower to the ground. Her vallaslin looked shattered. The bow that stretched across her forehead was in six pieces, tinier fragments having appeared above and below the breaks as if it were broken glass on her face. The arrowhead itself, close to her hairline was broken into three major pieces, with smaller fractures around the edges. The arrow shaft that traveled down her nose looked like it had been snapped and laid straight again while the fletching at her chin looked bristled, and beyond repair. The smaller branches along her brow looked similar to the arrow shaft. While the vines along her cheeks look like they had withered and were dusting ashes down her face. One could almost mistake them for freckles if the rest of the vallaslin were not present. The wolf did let out a whine then, and her eyes snapped straight to the bush. She looked like she wanted to get up, and was about to call out as Frigg came outside. 

"Did you say something? I thought I heard you inside." Frigg looked concerned, not realizing what Vethari was staring at. 

Vethari broke her gaze and looked up at Frigg, "Just whining because my legs hurt. Nothing new."

"Right. Well, let's get started then." Frigg let Vethari's hair down and began to chop it off in chunks, getting out most of the clumps while the hair reached her shoulders. She then continued to cut off more hair, a bit closer to the scalp. Vethari winced occasionally but kept still, staring straight at the bush when Frigg was not in front of her. 

The wolf pushed closer at command allowing his glowing eyes to be seen as Frigg closely shaved the hair now. She moved slightly to the side and Vethari saw the wolf there, slight surprise on her face, but she made no movement. Disappointment filled the wolf as he backed away, now knowing she did not recognize the signs and had indeed lost her memory as they had overheard. With that the wolf slinked away, being sure to avoid the human male cooing at some large hens and chasing them down the street.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Well, what do you think?"

Vethari looked at herself in the bucket of water and felt her pounding head with trembling hands. "I feel a bit light headed, but I'm glad to be rid of it. Can I lay down for the rest of the day? I'm exhausted."

"Of course. You know where Aesir and I will be." Frigg scooped her up and set her in her bed, handing her one of the books they had found in the houses nearby. 

Vethari looked up at her in surprise. _"What manner of gift is this?_

Frigg chuckled. "I can tell you're tired cause you're speaking your native tongue. I figured just because Avvar don't read, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't. Besides, there are no skalds to tell you of your stories. I'll see you soon."

With that, Frigg left the building to gather from the traps that Aesir had helped her build a little over a week ago. They would need meat back in Vethari's diet soon. Vethari held the book close, unable to open it with how tired she was. Yet, she could not sleep as the glowing fade-green eyes of the wolf sent another wave of pain through her skull.


End file.
